BOARDMAN, Ohio (WYTV) – Even before 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, customers were crowding into meat markets like Catullo’s in Boardman.

Many, like shopper Michael Mitzel, held off until the last day to get their Thanksgiving bird for Thursday’s feast.

“My wife wants the freshest capon she can get, and we’ve done it. It’s tradition. We’ve done it every year for the past 44 years we’ve been married,” Mitzel said.

For many, it was one of a number of stops to be made Wednesday.

A few doors down, it was organized chaos at Classic Bakery, where customers take numbers based on whether they ordered in advance.

Worker Roseann Habbe started at Classic Bakery last spring, so it was her first real experience with the holiday rush.

“Yesterday, it was like this, but they expect it to be more people today, and there’s a million orders back there,” she said Wednesday afternoon.

Interestingly enough, Wednesday afternoon was the time to be at Rulli Brothers. Aisles weren’t crowded at all, and owners say most of the regular pre-holiday grocery shopping for things like frozen turkeys is done the day or two before the day before Thanksgiving.

“Lets be real folks, if you have a turkey, you better have been defrosting it already, unless you’re gonna go with a fresh turkey,” Michael Rulli said.

There were still the last-minute shoppers who couldn’t wait until the weekend.

“We’re celebrating Thanksgiving at my in-laws today, and then I’m doing another one tomorrow, and I wanted to get out early and be done,” said Cathi Cline.

If you had trouble getting through this rush Wednesday, you have a month to recover.